Lazy Lao

We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos in the afternoon of Monday May 25. All of us immediately fell in love with this place - quiet, chilled out, and relaxed town situated on the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in northern Lao (the locals don't use the "s"). Our original plan was to stay in Luang Prabang for a day or so and then move on to Vang Vieng and Vientiane, but after speaking with several backpackers who all said that Vientiane wasn't really anything to see, we decided to just stay and relax in LP for 3 days.

We love Luang Prabang, but we realized it's not the real Laos. Jeremy describes it as the "Disney World version" of Laos. We have probably seen more Western backpackers/tourists than locals, and the prices are jacked up compared to the rest of the country. Pete is convinced that the government is running the show here, keeping tight control over the businesses and development in the area to create a nice/safe facade for tourists.

We have been going to bed around 10/11 pm and getting up around 6 am every day naturally. We have been getting a lot out of our days this way!

Our first day we wanted to relax and get everybody back to full health (recall Petey and Jonas' stomach issues from Siem Reap). Everyone is going strong now. We walked around the city for a bit and then found a nice little bar/restaurant on a hilltop that overlooked the Nam Khan river (we hit it just in time for Happy Hour - 2 cocktails for 25,000 kip!). We spent the entire afternoon/evening sitting in a bungaloo in the middle of a bamboo forest having drinks and eating local snacks while watching the sunset over the river. We loved the place so much we ended up having dinner there as well. Pete went home early to sleep because his eyes were bothering him and he wasn't feeling 100% (don't worry mom, he's at full strength, at least for now...)

On Day 2 we took a day-trip to the Kuangsi waterfalls. Jeremy had some inside information that the upper 2nd tier of waterfalls would be more secluded and pristine than the lower ones. He even claimed that there was a large swimming pool if we hiked all the way up the mountain to the top of the waterfall... After 30-45 minutes of a grueling hike up the dirt mountainside in the mild 98 degree weather (85%+ humidity), we found a small blue sign which read "Way to the cave. 3 km. Spring Water." Thinking that this was perhaps the fabled fountain of youth of which Jeremy so eloquently preached, we decided to extend our brutal hike to another 3 km in the blistering heat. After a few snake encounters and false snake alarms (mostly Pete), we reached the "cave." There was no spring water, and the advertised cave was nothing more than a small dark hole in the mountain. Jonas was extremely thrilled that he joined Jeremy on this joy ride.

After backtracking the entire way down the mountain, we randomly bumped into another group of misinformed hikers who had heard of the mythical 2nd tier waterfall/swimming pool. Coincidentally, one of them was a Georgetown '08 grad who now lives and works in Singapore. He called Jeremy out for his Gtown Jeff Green jersey. We spent an hour or so swimming in the waterfall, rope swinging, and cliff diving.

While waiting for our return tuk-tuk to central Luang Prabang, Jeremy and Pete began tossin' the ol' pigskin around to pass the time. Jonas noticed that a young local child was very pumped about this rare Lao occurence, and called P+J over. The guys then taught the little man to catch and throw the football. He couldn't have been more than 5 years old, but he turned out to be quite the natural, learning to throw, catch, and punt the ball in just a couple of minutes. This little Lao kid was having the time of his life playing with us, laughing so hard he could barely stand. He was clearly getting a good workout. His mom, sister, and grandmother were also enjoying the spectacle. When it was time to leave for Luang Prabang, we decided to give the football to the kid as a present. He squeezed his new possession proudly as he posed for a picture with Pete, Jeff, and Jeremy.

Later that night we met up with our new friends from the waterfall and had some snacks and drinks at the night market. We then met some more backpackers from New Zealand, Northern Ireland, and Holland, and enjoyed hearing some crazy stories from their travels (most people out here have been traveling for 6+ months, we feel like real noobs...)

Today Jonas and Jeff have desperately been searching for a place that will be showing the Champions League final (tonight at 2:45 AM Lao time). Everyone keeps giving different locations, but all these places tell us that they're not showing the game. Everything in Luang Prabang closes at 11:30, so that all people can be home by the mandatory midnight curfew. This is set by the communist government. We just heard that the bowling alley is staying open late to show the game so hopefully we won't miss out on United's completion of the Double and their defense of the CL title.

We spent most of the day doing housekeeping things such as booking tomorrow's afternoon flight to Hanoi and washing our dirty clothes with soap in the sink. Jeff got an hour-long foot and head massage for $6. For dinner we went to the night market. For a whopping $1.80 each we got a massive bowl of beef noodle soup (similar to Vietnamese pho), a bottle of water, and a tasty fruit shake for dessert. Gotta love this place! We also got a bit adventurous, eating "incubated eggs." These are eggs with baby chickens inside of them (hardboiled). Even Petey tried one! He has regained confidence in his stomach and is ready to go for the dog, snake, and cockroach filled journey that is ahead.

Pete's brief attempt at a blog post (as per mom's request): Pick up your phone when I call!

Off to Hanoi tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully a night train to Sapa tomorrow night to get ready for some hardcore hiking in the mountains near the Chinese border.

To be continued from Vietnam...